he spent monday afternoon in a backyard gathering in northern virginia. >> they should definitely get an extension of the tax cuts that went to 2001-2003. >> reporter: but he says we can't afford to extend tax cuts for families who earn more than $250,000 a year. >> to do it we'd have to borrow $700 billion over -- over the course of ten years. and we just can't afford it. >> reporter: republican leaders say, we can't afford not to. >> no recovery will take place if we impose new taxes on the people we need to create jobs. >> reporter: over the weekend, house republican leader john boehner suggested he might be willing to compromise, and vote for middle-class tax cuts, even if the wealthiest had to pay more. but in a new statement, he toed the party line. republicans are unified, he wrote on twitter, to boost our economy we need to stop all tax hikes and cut spending now. a recent cbs news poll found 56% of americans are in favor of getting rid of tax breaks for the wealthy. a view that seems to favor the president's plan. but some democrats aren't so sure. >> i don't think raising ta